Global powers have urged restraint as China, Russia, Iran and the United Nations pressed Pakistan and Afghanistan to immediately halt cross-border attacks and pursue diplomacy amid rising tensions.

Iran offered to help facilitate dialogue between Afghanistan and Pakistan after Islamabad declared the neighbours at "open war", carrying out air strikes on Kabul following border clashes.

Multiple explosions shook the Afghan capital, Kabul, and several other regions early Friday morning as Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged military strikes across their volatile border, accusing each other of escalating the conflict.

Defense Minister Asif has said his country is at “open war” with its western neighbor

Afghanistan has threatened retaliation after Pakistani airstrikes on its territory reportedly killed at least 18 people and left several others injured.

India has condemned Pakistan over its airstrikes in neighboring Afghanistan that reportedly killed at least 18 people and left several others injured. ❗️India 'strongly condemns'...

Pakistan conducted precision cross-border strikes on suspected militant hideouts, saying the action was retaliation for recent suicide attacks linked to groups operating from Afghanistan.

The Duke of Sussex has called for the sacrifices of Nato troops to be "spoken about truthfully and with respect", after the US president claimed allies stayed "a little back" from the front lines in Afghanistan.

When Bahara was four months pregnant, she went to a Kabul hospital to beg for an abortion. "We're not allowed," a doctor told her. "If someone finds out, we will all end up in prison."

 Two teenage Afghan asylum seekers, who had both arrived in Britain alone in the last year, were given long detention sentences on Monday for raping a 15-year-old girl in central England.

On a recent afternoon, Giselle Garcia, a volunteer who has been helping an Afghan family resettle, drove the father to a check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She warned him and his family to prepare for the worst.

Clashes erupted late Friday in a tense border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with each side accusing the other of launching "unprovoked" attacks.